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A few words from Sherman LeeThe older Dillon children had come up with a scheme and it wasn't half bad. Daddy went about locating instruments for all seven children, Mother, and one son-in-law. Soprano uke, tenor guitar, banjo, dulcimer,' harmonica, bass fiddle, mandolin, violin penny whistle, and then some. Each person learned to play their respective instrument and The Dillon Family Band began. Performing at schools, churches, festivals, and events around Mississippi. But time changes things. One by one, marriages, children, college and careers took more and more time from the family band. There did, however, seem to be some diehards. From the beginning, Anna Lee (Child No. 4) had something special. At age 10, while visiting some friends she gave her first performance. "Anna, I don't know what song you're talking about," I said. "I'll sing it for you," she said. She walked to the middle of the room while everyone else was eating and blasted all three verses a capella. Something had begun. Andrew John (No. 7) had some musical instinct as well. Before he could crawl he'd lie on the bed and patiently listen to me practice. It wasn't 'til I put the fiddle down and stopped playing that he'd begin to cry. His affinity for the violin has only grown. It only makes sense that Anna Lee and Andrew would be the ones carrying on the Dillon Family Band tradition. I began by letting Anna sit in at my gigs. Before long the number one request became, "Let her sing another one. Fans then began to ask, "Is your boy coming with his fiddle?" What's a man Supposed to do? So here's "Sherman Lee Dillon and The Dillonaires." About the music1. Ashes Of Love (Johnny Wright, Jack Anglin, Jim Anglin, with additional lyrics by Andrew John Dillon) When I met Ray Neyland he worked three doors down from my guitar shop answering the phone for a burglar-bar company. He used to come to our Saturday morning picking sessions. Totally unassuming, but knew everything about everything. Just a self-educated fellow marching to his own drum. How refreshing. In Ray I saw a dignity and value of people easily overlooked. I sold the store and didn't see him for 15 or 20 years, 'til he showed up at an acoustic jam I was doing. Anna Lee and Andrew came to this jam and fell in love with Ray and his way of doing Ashes of Love. He can't hear too web anymore, walks with a cane, and doesn't have a driver's license. That jam ended and I don't see Ray too much anymore. I did get an update. It seems he bought a bicycle to get around. Most older people fall and break their hips in the kitchen, bathroom or front porch. 82-year-old Ray broke his hip falling off a bike! Ashes of love, cold as ice 2. Rockin' Chair (Andrew John Dillon) My father's name was Clarence Dillon. He was an identical twin and youngest of ten. One of their older sisters was named Gliddie Jane. Her sons had long since gone and her husband Leo had been killed, but still every Sunday morning she would cook a breakfast as if they were all there. Link sausage, patty sausage, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, biscuits, grits, butter, sweet cream, chicory coffee, Blackburn syrup, Homer Fenn's locally grown cane syrup, plum jelly, and maybe some canned figs from behind her house. Clarence was practically raised by Gliddie because of the age difference. He had a special place in his heart for her. He was there every Sunday. Whenever I got a chance I'd go over there and eat with them (some mornings on my way home from gigs I'd drop in before going to bed). It was a good chance to visit both of them. Some mornings I'd go over there and Clarence wouldn't be there. Those were some special times. One morning she had talked herself into a personal moment. She told me that her life had been good and she enjoyed raising her boys and missed her husband Leo (who had been dead over 20 years). She said "Hun' I'm glad you came by to see me. I know you've got a lot going on with those children and all, but come by and see me when you can. You know it's terrible being alone. I hate being alone." She paused and looked down the road, "I haven't seen the person so mean, that I wouldn't rather live with them than live by myself." It's easy to take issue with a statement like that, but underneath it is a soul that had seen so much and still knew how important people are. Rockin' Chair squeaks on the porch, 3. Catfish Song (Sherman Lee Dillon) In Mississippi when I was growing up a lot of people had cow ponds behind their houses. One year my third cousin Virginia talked my daddy into letting her stock our pond with catfish. For a year, she fed them special food and tried to fish some big ones out. We had all heard stories of giant catfish in the Mississippi 'River, catfish as big as a full-grown man, so we knew they were in there if we could just catch them. Lies kept getting bigger and bigger. Everyone knew they would bring home the big one.
Gonna get up gonna cut me a pole 4. Old Gospel Ship (Traditional) I found that "Old Gospel Ship" worked good for an opening song. I thought it was my idea. Only to get a record of Joan Baez live. To my surprise, she started her set with "Old Gospel Ship." Anna sings it, and in keeping with the Carter family tradition we just use one guitar and three voices (I sing Maybelle's part).
I have good news to bring, and that is why I sing 5. Hard Time Blues (Jimmie Rodgers) I never was much of a Jimmie Rodgers fan. The yodeling all sounded aike, the chord changes seemed too predictable and his rhythm was too sporadic. At least until George Fuller. He sang the old songs, mostly Jimmie Rodgers. He was a small man. He'd sit in a chair and sing at the top of his lungs. It seemed like George knew a million Jimmie Rodgers songs. One day I asked him to make me some tapes. The next week he appeared with four 90 minute cassette tapes (If I ever get time I'm going to listen to those tapes again).
Got a barrel of flour, boys I got a barrel of lard (2x) 6. Dooley (Traditional)
Dooley was a good ole man he lived below the mill 7. Lulu Walls (A.P. Carter) Learning to read was such a pleasure. The written word became the door to truth. As though to read a word made the word more truthful. How convenient, if you read it and your buddy didn't, you were somehow more connected to all that is truth. No matter what experience or reason would try to tell, spoken words must always bow to written words. When I was 14, we had a Carter Family record with a song on it, titled Lulu Walls. Years later. I picked up another Carter Family record with the same song. Only trouble the song title was spelled ''Lula Walls,'' not "Lulu Walls." How could that be. Written words can not be wrong. Could it be that words written are just words written. That day I became a deconstructionist! Everything I had blindly accepted as truth because it had been written by an expert would now have to be reexamined. Could it be that Dick did not see Jane. Spot did not run. I could actually place my own experience above words on a page. Great! No, damn! No, Great! Does that mean I can no longer say it's true because I read it?!
One evening getting dark we first met at the park, 8. Henry & Polly Sherman Lee Dillon & Louise Dillon) Winnie was my grandmother on my mother's side. She had gotten married in the 1920s. When she was 14 years old she woke herself up one morning and got dressed for school without being told. This was normal. What was not normal is that she got dressed up in the fanciest dress she had. "Winnie, why are you so dressed up," "We're having a play at school and I'm in it." The answer worked, she wore the dress. Her mother had no idea that Winnie would be married the next time she saw her. They stayed married 50 years. That seems so long!
Sunday morn' at Calvary Church the two old folks were there 9. Airplane, Airplane (Sherman Lee Dillon) I had met her Italian father once. We had actually sat down and eaten a meal together. Probably less than 10 words had been exchanged between us. But still I was going to fly unannounced to New England and ask him if I could marry his daughter. And oh yes, convince him that she'd be better off with me in Mississippi. Along with the flood of obstacles, three things weighed heaviest:Problem #1: I was only 19 and she was only 18. Problem 2: He had an intense dislike of Southerners. Problem #3: He was known to have a stereotypical "fist-through-the-wall'' Italian chef's temper. Sunday night I called the airport. One way cost $89 and round trip was $120. Estimated bank balance was $100. I bought a round trip ticket and was in the air at 7 the next morning. I'd appear to be taking the high ground, man to man, face to face. At least that was the strategy. If by chance he threw one of his famous fits of rage, I'd be the winner by default. I had eight hours to play this through. And what about the bounced check? Well, maybe it didn't But it probably did. Either way, the same paper that got me on that airplane had a a return flight on it! It was about 6 p.m. when I got to the house. The Italian father worked late that day. When he arrived at 9 pm, I still remember putting my hand on that ticket when I heard his wife say, "Oh, honey! Guess who's here.''
Don't that ol' sun look good goin' down 10. Just A Closer Walk With Thee One summer I was at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire performing. I was singing this song pretty much like it is here. When l did the last refrain, I heard a voice about half the way back singing "Just a Closer Walk, Just a Closer Walk, etc." Later that night I got to visit the gentleman. He was in his 60s and was playing at another spot down the beach. As it turned out he was also from Mississippi. We sat in with each other when we could. After all, I knew material by Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, etc. well enough to back him up and when I'd sing old country songs he knew them. It was pretty cool. An older black man playing music back and forth with a younger white fellow is no big deal. What was a big deal was that he said he was Robert Johnson's half brother. This was 1970 and everyone wasn't down with Robert Johnson, but he thought I'd know what that meant. Sure enough he had a Mississippi driver's license, had grown up in the right part of the state and seemed to know everything he should know. And of course, he never ready knew his "Father." l corresponded with him a few times. His address was General Delivery. After all this time, every time I hear Andrew and Anna sing that part I wonder about old Bob Johnson.
Just a Closer Walk With Thee 11. Grandma's Mule (Sherman Lee Dillon, Anna Lee Dillon and Andrew John Dillon) It was impressive to watch my Grandpa plow a mule. He would have both hands on the plow and a rein over his shoulder. Still, that mule knew just where to go. One day when I was about 12, I asked him, "Grandpa, how do you make the mule do what you want? You don't even touch the reins." "Oh, no! You don't pull no reins, you talk to that mule. Didn't you hear me saying 'Gee' and 'Haw'? That mule understands it. That means right and left. Next time we hook him up, I'll let you try." Sure enough he did. It was amazing! I could bark commands to that mule and he'd do what I said!
Grandma had a riding mule, that's how she got around, 12. I Feel Like Traveling On (Wm. Hunter & James D. Vaughan) My father attended a Primitive Baptist Church in Meadville, Mississippi. Primitive Baptists are worlds apart frond Southern Baptists. Since there is no mention of musical instruments in the New Testament, they don't have a place in the Church, so unaccompanied singing is very basic to the service. The book we use for this song is "The Old School Hymnal" and came from Pilgrim's Rest Primitive Baptist Church, where my father Clarence is buried.
My heavenly home is bright and fair, 13. John Henry (Traditional) When I first started going to fiddling contests, two songs were banned: Black Mountain Rag and John Henry. All the folk/bluegrass players in the world knew it. A few years ago, I stopped by to hear some of my friends playing in a bar. They played bluegrass and had a large song selection. I gave them a tip and they asked me what I wanted to hear. A few weeks earlier one of my children came.home from school telling me the story of John Henry. A storyteller had been to the school. I remembered how much I liked the song and since all the folk/bluegrass players in the world knew it, I said "John Henry!" They just looked at each other and politely played something else. God forbid that the story of John Henry be forgotten.
When John Henry was a little baby boy 14. Old Man Jones (Andrew John Dillon) Story was when l was growing up that a group of boys on the other side of Meadville had a pretty successful watermelon stealing ring. They had figured Mr. Jones was an easy target. He had a better idea. He emptied the lead shot out of his shotgun shells and loaded them with rock salt. He really didn't want to kill anyone on account of a watermelon, but the shock of a shotgun blast in the heat of the night and the enduring pain of salt penetrating the skin would sure empty out a watermelon patch in a heartbeat.
Old Man Jones lived down the road to the house that I call my own 15. The Rising Sun (Traditional, add'l words by Anna Lee Dillon) So many executives (usually men) get to dress up, put on cologne, and pretend to be taking care of the world as though they had given it life. Meanwhile, women often struggle to care for children, check in on parents, pick up after men, and keep the world going and receive such contempt for taking care of the world they have given life to. Domestic abuse, disproportionate poverty, beauty standards, unequal pay, inappropriate sexual expectations, emotional abandonment, limited resources, and other unreasonable demands of society are only a few of the demons many women must fight. These are demons that take away self respect, hope, the joy of life and replace them with fear, depression, self-imposed guilt and desperation. Sometimes they are so strong that it's all our sisters can do to survive.
There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun 16. Farther Along (Traditional) I was almost grown before I heard the story about Mrs Will's wife. The way I heard it was this: It was early one morning and Mr. Will was walking out the door to·go hunting. He walked down the steps and across the yard. About the time he got to the gate, his wife waved from the porch. When he turned to wave back, the shotgun went off and shot her. I don't remember the gate, but I remember the porch where she was standing. They say if I had looked I would be able to see an imprint of her body where some of the shot missed her and hit the wall. All the neighbors were called and a doctor. Everyone stayed as she lay on the bed the rest of the day and died that night. Mr. Will and his children must have asked the obvious question thousands of time. I guess most of them understand it now and the few survivors will understand it all by and by. That doesn't wipe away the tears or the pain.
Tempted and tried, Lord, we're oft made to wonder Tracks & Times1. Ashes Of Love 3:20 Credits
Recorded at Terminal Studios, Jackson, MS |
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